Youth Entrepreneurs Advised To Market Through Social Media

Oageng Batenegi | Monday June 6, 2016 15:32

Phele was speaking at the recent Youth Business Expo at the Fairgrounds organised by the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture. Phele said social media is one of those platforms that are highly populated.  She said billions of people in the world are always active on social media platforms. 

Phele said these are potential clients that young entrepreneurs can tap into for their products.  She added that social media is even more advantageous as it allows one to reach the international market.

Apart from creating links and pages on social media, one can also use influential people around these platforms, said Phele.  They may not necessarily be real life celebrities, emphasised Phele, but are just people who have a large following.

She said a young entrepreneur could ask such people to use their space to market their business. And a lot of them are normally willing to avail that space for free or even for a small fee, Phele said.

Phele further said that this is even more effective when one has created a good brand. She said when you have branded your business or product well, customers and people alike will always talk about your enterprise. Meanwhile, Kgalagadi Breweries Limited corporate affairs manager, Masegonyana Madisa told the young entrepreneurs that a unique business idea is normally sellable. Madisa said young people need to be more innovative when coming up with business ideas. He said there is need to move away from the mentality of venturing into saturated markets.  “Go out there and look for new ideas,” said Madisa to the youth who had gathered to listen to the business sessions.  He added that not only is a unique business idea able to be marketed well, but also normally face less challenges when it comes to funding. “The business idea has to be a viable concept,” said Madisa.  His company KBL has been funding young entrepreneurs with their KickStart programmes. The programme helps the youth to start their own businesses or expand their existing ones.

Leatile Bakwena from Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) said as a funding institution, they want to see more job creation.

Bakwena said citizen empowerment is at the heart of their vision and they offer training and mentoring for their beneficiaries.

But Bakwena advised the youth that there are also opportunities in other sectors such as tourism and mining.

Bakwena said the young entrepreneurs have to be financially disciplined. They should not rush to buy personal fancy assets before they grow or re-invest in their businesses, said Bakwena.